Okinawa’s Gourmet Revival

Japan’s northern produce and refined city fare may hog the culinary limelight, but the unique food scene of the southern islands of Okinawa is experiencing the beginning of a gourmet renaissance.

For centuries, Okinawa existed as the autonomous kingdom of Ryukyu, with political and commercial relationships extending around Asia. Trade with China, Japan, Korea and Southeast Asia melded with the indigenous culture to create a distinct fusion cuisine. In more recent history, the U.S. military presence in Okinawa has also had a profound influence the way the locals eat.

Kin township on Naha, Okinawa’s main island, is home to one of Okinawa’s favorite dishes: taco rice, a simple and delicious pile of spicy beef, cheese, salad and rice that originated decades ago from a surplus of military rations of taco seasoning and American cheese, together with local rice and vegetables.

Located in Kin’s nightlife district, King Tacos serves what may be the town’s best taco rice. The area was originally established to cater to personnel from the U.S. Army’s Camp Hansen military base, which comprises around 60% of the municipality. But it changed over time, and is now a mix of boarded-up businesses and crumbling buildings. More than half of the bars and restaurants have closed since their heyday of the 1960s and ’70s.

But while Kin businesses that rely solely on custom from the base are struggling, King Tacos does a brisk trade with local Okinawan workers out for a quick feed, as well as Japanese tourists in search of Okinawa’s best taco rice and who have been guided by online review websites like gurunavi and tabelog. Business is good, and only last year King Tacos moved from its tiny original location to larger new premises around the corner.

While domestic tourism is helping some of the local food operations move away from reliance on the American military dollar, Okinawa’s relaxed lifestyle and food culture are also attracting new business to the islands.

Shunji Kobayashi followed the sun to Okinawa more than a decade ago from Nagoya on Japan’s main island of Honshu. He established Gordie’s, a burger joint hidden in the backstreets of the Chatan district near the Kadena Air Base, which many say makes the best burgers on the island.

The burgers at Gordie’s are big and bold and the menu is varied, offering American-style double-bacon cheeseburgers alongside Japanese-inspired teriyaki versions, or burgers filled with fried pork katsu. Its patrons are a mix of American military, locals and tourists.

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Japan Real Time is a newsy, concise guide to what works, what doesn’t and why in the one-time poster child for Asian development, as it struggles to keep pace with faster-growing neighbors while competing with Europe for Michelin-rated restaurants. Drawing on the expertise of The Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones Newswires, the site provides an inside track on business, politics and lifestyle in Japan as it comes to terms with being overtaken by China as the world’s second-biggest economy. You can contact the editors at japanrealtime@wsj.com